Tis the Season
by Kate P
Summary: Ben recalls Christmas past


'Tis The Season  
A Bonanza Story  
By Kate Pitts  
Christmas lunch over and replete with good food and fine wine, Ben Cartwright settled down in the old leather armchair before the fire and surveyed his family. His eldest son, Adam, was sitting opposite, already engrossed in the book he had received that morning as a gift from his father. Ben's two younger sons, Hoss and Joe, were setting out the checkers board for a quiet game, Hoss looking a little uncomfortable in the collar and tie that his father had insisted upon today. From the kitchen came the clatter of china as the little Chinese cook, Hop Sing, made a start on washing the dishes. Relaxing in the warmth of the fire, the effects of the alcohol he had consumed soon began to take effect and Ben felt himself drifting away into a soporific reverie as Joe and Hoss' quiet voices faded and memories of past Christmases began to drift languorously through his mind.  
  
Thirteen-year-old Adam had sat enthralled as his father's visitor told them tales of Christmas in his far off German homeland, but it was the story of the Christmas tree that fascinated him the most. A lowly pine tree, taken from the forest and brought inside, lavishly decorated for the Christmas festivities; Adam could just imagine how magical that would look. In bed that night he decided that such a tree would be his Christmas gift to his family that year, he just needed a little help in organising it.  
  
Christmas Eve was cold, but there had been no deep fall of snow and Ben felt that the weather was good enough to venture into Virginia City with his wife and sons to get a few last minute supplies. As Marie wrapped baby Joseph warmly and Hoss struggled into the thick coat he'd been told to wear, Adam asked if he might be excused from the trip.  
  
"Please, Pa." The boy begged. "There's something I need to do here at home."  
  
"What?" Ben asked him impatiently. "What could be more important than spending the day with your family?"  
  
"It's a secret." Adam cast a desperate glance towards the kitchen doorway where Hop Sing stood watching. "I can't tell you or it will spoil it."  
  
"I will watch boy." Hop Sing spoke up softly, coming forward into the room. "When family return you all get big surprise."  
  
"Big surprise, eh?" Ben raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Is this something for Christmas, Adam?" "Yes, sir." Adam looked past his father to Marie, standing by the door, Joe in her arms and Hoss close beside her. "Please may I stay?"  
  
"You may." Ben gave his permission with a smile. "And I look forward to seeing whatever it is when I get home."  
  
Adam could hardly contain his impatience as his family climbed aboard the buggy and set off. Almost as soon as they disappeared from sight he was running for the barn to fetch an axe while Hop Sing came hurrying over to help him harness up the buckboard.  
  
With forest all around it didn't take long for Adam and Hop Sing to select a fine looking tree and fell it. It was a little difficult getting it inside the house and set up in the big container filled with earth but seeing it standing there, tall and erect, Adam felt the struggle was worth it. The remainder of the afternoon the Chinese cook and the boy laboured to decorate the tree as best they could. Adam picked bright berries from the bushes nearby and Hop Sing threaded them into long chains, which they hung high on the branches, away from Little Joe's questing fingers. Adam cut paper stars and Hop Sing produced shiny, coloured ribbons that he'd bought in town, to make bows. As a finishing touch candles were put into tin holders, which Adam had fashioned under Hop Sing's supervision over the last few weeks, and carefully attached to the branches. With a sigh of satisfaction the man and boy stood back to survey their day's work. The tree looked magnificent.  
  
Ben would never forget the sight as he opened the ranch house door that Christmas Eve. The room was dark except for the glow from the fire and the soft radiance of the candle flames on the pine tree that stood by the stairs, filling the room with it's sharp, uplifting fragrance. Beside him he heard Marie's soft gasp and turned to look at his wife and sons. Hoss' eyes were saucer wide as he stared at the sight before him and baby Joseph was grinning widely, little hands outstretched towards the flames. Marie was smiling softly, her face radiant. "It's beautiful." She whispered, handing the baby to Ben as she moved closer to the tree and to Adam who stood beside it. "It's my present for you." Adam told her, a little shyly, glancing back at his father and brothers. "For all of you." "The most wonderful present I ever received." Marie said and the boy's face lit with happiness as the whole family came to admire the tree. Ben squeezed Adam's shoulder proudly. It was a Christmas he'd never forget.  
Nine-year-old Hoss crept quietly forward, his eyes fixed on the small figure beneath the tree. As he drew closer the young animal looked up at him, liquid brown eyes regarding the boy with interest but showing no fear.  
  
"Hey, boy." Hoss whispered, squatting down and slowly holding out a hand for the creature to sniff. "What you doin' out here in the woods without your Mama?"  
  
The deer just looked up at him, hardly flinching as Hoss gently stroked it's soft coat. An idea suddenly occurred to him and he leant closer to the little animal. "P'raps you're one of them reindeers my brother Adam was reading about." He said softly. "After all it is Christmas next week." A worried frown crossed his brow as he considered the notion. "Maybe you should be with that Saint Nick like in the poem."  
  
Reaching out he carefully lifted the deer up, seeing at once why the animal hadn't run. There was a deep gash on one of it's hind legs and it appeared to be infected. Concerned, Hoss gathered the youngster close to him. "It's all right." He said, standing up with it held securely in his arms. "I'm gonna take you home and make you well again." As they headed for the ranch house Hoss crooned softly to the animal, hoping to keep it from getting scared. He recited some of the words of the poem that his brother Adam had read him the previous night as a bedtime story, the part that mentioned reindeer. " 'The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow, Gave the lustre of midday to objects below, When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.' Pretty, ain't it?" He said quietly, moving cautiously so as not to hurt the deer. "And you sure are a tiny reindeer." He smiled reassuringly at the little creature. "Hoss'll get you well for Christmas, don't you fret." Reaching the ranch Hoss found himself reluctant to share his 'reindeer' with his family and was relieved to find only Hop Sing in the house. The little Chinaman wasn't too happy to find an animal in the great room but when Hoss begged him for help he relented and assisted the boy to build a little shelter for the deer, out back by the hen houses where the family seldom went. Over the next few days Hop Sing helped Hoss as the boy tended to the little deer and nursed it back to health.  
  
Ben would never forget that Christmas Eve. He had tiptoed downstairs to put out presents for the morning and was surprised to see light spilling from the kitchen doorway. Venturing inside, he found the back door open and, sitting on the back porch, wrapped in a warm blanket, his middle son. "Hoss!" He exclaimed, going to stand beside the boy. "What are you doing out here at this time of night?" "Shhhh!" Hoss hissed softly, putting a finger to his lips. "I'm waiting for Saint Nick to come get his reindeer." "His what?" Ben asked and in reply Hoss just pointed. Squatting down beside his son Ben looked where the boy indicated and was surprised to see a young mule deer standing in the snow. "It's a tiny reindeer." Hoss confided, scooting closer to his father. "I found him in the woods. He had a bad leg but me and Hop Sing made him all better." "I see." Ben hadn't the heart to tell Hoss that this was no reindeer. Still less was it one of Saint Nick's. "I think it might be best if we go inside." He suggested quietly. "I don't think Saint Nick will come and get the reindeer if we're watching." "He won't?" Hoss looked up anxiously and Ben shook his head. With a sigh Hoss got to his feet, and reached for his father's hand. "Then we'd better go." It had been a long night for Ben, once Hoss was safely tucked up in bed he'd trekked up into the woods with the deer, searching for signs of the herd it had come from. Dawn had broken by the time he crawled into bed beside his sleeping wife. But though it had meant a sleepless night, Ben was proud of his son and the way he had cared for the little animal. He smiled happily as he settled down to sleep. It was a Christmas he'd never forget.  
Six-year-old Joseph stared mutinously back at his father. "I don't want to go to school." He announced loudly. "I hate school and I hate Miss. Jones."  
  
"I won't have that kind of talk, young man." Ben warned him sternly. "You will go and get ready for school this instant."  
  
The little boy glowered at him for a moment but knowing better than to argue with his father, eventually turned and trudged slowly upstairs to do as he was bid.  
  
"I thought he was getting on all right at school." Ben remarked to Adam as they heard Joe's door slam behind him. "He seemed quite keen on going last week."  
  
"Perhaps it's just the fact that it's almost Christmas." Adam counselled, seeing the worried frown on his father's face. "Unsettling him a little."  
  
"Could be I suppose." Ben conceded. "He did say something about Miss. Jones putting on a play."  
  
"She's doing a nativity." Hoss announced, coming in from the kitchen just in time to catch his father's words. "All the younger children get to play a part."  
  
"And what part does Joe have?" Adam asked with interest. "I mean if he needs help with lines or anything."  
  
"He ain't gotta say anything." Hoss told him, picking up his schoolbooks from the table and frowning at the stairs. "And he just better get a move on or we're gonna be late."  
  
Over the next few days Ben found himself growing more and more annoyed with his youngest son. Every morning Joe found a new excuse as to why he shouldn't go to school that day. On Friday when a bad stomach hadn't worked Joe stomped down the stairs, thunderclouds on his brow.  
  
"It's not fair!" He moaned, little mouth fixed in a pout, as Hoss handed him his books. "I don't want to go!" He threw the books to the floor and then froze in dismay as his father's voice, raised in anger, sounded from the top of the stairs.  
  
"Joseph!" Ben shouted. "How dare you treat your schoolbooks like that! Pick them up this instant and come here!"  
  
Joe bent to pick up the scattered books, tucking them under his arm and trudging slowly across the room to where Ben was just descending the stairs.  
  
"I'm sorry, Pa." Hazel eyes looked up pleadingly at Ben. "I didn't mean to throw the books." "Joseph." Ben put his hands on the little boy's shoulders, speaking to him gently. "I want to know why it is you're so set against school all of a sudden. I thought you liked it."  
  
"I did." Joe looked down at the floor, a flush staining his cheeks. "It's just Miss. Jones nativity.it's.I don't want to do it, Pa."  
  
"But why not?" Ben asked softly. "It's a beautiful story, Joe. The first Christmas, you should be proud to be in it."  
  
"But." Joe hesitated, casting an embarrassed glance back at Hoss. "It's what I gotta be." He whispered.  
  
"Which is?"  
  
"He's an angel." Hoss announced, when Joe didn't answer straight away.  
  
"Well it's hardly type casting." Ben said with a grin. "But I still don't see the problem."  
  
"It's 'cause I gotta wear a dress!" Joe wailed, the truth coming out at last. "I don't want to wear a dress, Pa!"  
  
Ben would never forget that Christmas Eve, he sat proudly at the back of the room with the other parents as the children performed their nativity play. He watched as the newborn babe - one of the girl's toy dolls - was laid in the manger. The angels appeared to the shepherds and they came to worship. Then came three Kings from the East. Ben smiled as watched the Kings file on to the stage, there was Joseph, holding his gift of 'myrrh' with pride. Miss. Jones had been surprisingly understanding when Adam told her of Joe's aversion to wearing a 'dress' and the child was happy to be a King instead of an angel. Ben felt a rush of love as he watched his little boy. It was a Christmas he'd never forget.  
Ben opened his eyes to see Adam watching him over the top of his book. Hoss and Joe were still engrossed in their game.or perhaps it was another game, a glance at the clock showed an hour had gone by.  
  
"Pleasant dreams?" Adam asked quietly, an amused smile playing on his lips.  
  
"Very pleasant." Ben informed him lightly. "A few ghosts of Christmas past." He looked around him at his sons, the little boys who had grown into fine young men, and gave a sigh of contentment. "Pleasant dreams indeed." 


End file.
